We're talking about competition so fierce that when one player went out of turn one year, it resulted in the implementation of "The Donavan Rule."

We're talking about a tournament so serious that Jon Vos convinced his wife he should drill six holes into the concrete floor of a perfectly good home.

We're talking about the Putter's Invitational.

"The person we're all in awe of is his wife," player Bob Warners says, "because none of our wives would ever let this happen."

Warners is not the only one to gush over an invitational where more than 20 guys basically take over the Vos home for the better part of a Saturday.

And that doesn't include the Wednesday prior, when past winners gather for a steak dinner and collective wearing of their victory jackets.

"That would be my children's lives," says Jon's wife, Laura, (aka The Job of Hudsonville), as she points to a covered lump of toys and games that get the heave-ho when daddy transforms the playroom into a subterranean golf course.

The floor sports six holes Jon drilled into the 4-inch concrete with a large rental saw. They are plugged most of the year so the kids don't twist an ankle of break a leg, but come every March, it's madness.

Or, "pure craziness," as Laura describes what evolved from a simple idea into an event that boasts everything from the singing of the national anthem at 7:40 a.m. opening ceremonies, to a Web site, freewebs.com/puttersinvitational.

I took in a good deal of this year's match play, and I am not exaggerating when I say I saw and/or felt sweaty palms, shaky fingers and, if I'm not mistaken, tears of anguish.

The color all but drained from Mark Rice's face as Jim Baker defeated him in their single-elimination match.

"I came up against a juggernaut," Rice said.

Putt-Putt it's not. You square off one against one, and tour the six-hole course three times. Then there's "The Stick." It's a 27-inch-long dowel that serves Commissioner Vos as a tool of torture.

Come up short on any putt, and Vos uses the stick to draw you back an additional 27 inches. Go more than 27 inches deep, and he adds the stick's length to that spot.

The Donavan Rule ensued some years ago after Donavan VanZee, 51, of Spring Lake, aced a hole, but then was told he went out of turn.

"Angry?" he asks. "Oh, I was way past angry."

Last weekend, his anger gave way to nerves: "Where else can a guy over 50 still get the butterflies anymore?"

Vos, who is too busy as commish to play in his own event, never intended such angst.

"I just always wanted a putting green in my basement," says the 38-year-old physical therapist and father of three young boys. "It started as a two-man game with a buddy."

Sadly, playing in the Putter's Invitational is -- duh -- by invitation only.

But what's stopping you from convening your own tourney? Geoff Day, the production supervisor at Diamond Drilling, told me he will put six holes in virtually any Grand Rapids area basement for around $225, give or take.